Report: Organizers of Iran rally threatened with loss of tax-exempt status if they invited Palin

AllahpunditPosted at 10:49 am on September 20, 2008

Name ’em and shame ’em. Seriously. Fox News and the Journal should be all over this. Judging from the number of Democrats quoted in the piece as being upset about it, there’s no shortage of people willing to leak. Let’s find out who, precisely, decided that inviting a prominent Republican to a nonpartisan rally might warrant a visit from the IRS.

Sources tell CBS 2 HD that a decision to disinvite Palin from the high profile rally after Clinton pulled out in a huff came as the result of intense pressure from Democrats.

“This is insulting. This is embarrassing, especially to Gov. Palin, to me and I think it should be to every single New Yorker,” Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn, told CBS 2 HD.

Sources say the axes were out for Palin as soon as Sen. Clinton pulled out because she did not want to attend the same event as the Republican vice presidential candidate…

The groups sponsoring the rally against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at the UN were reportedly told, “it could jeopardize their tax exempt status” if they had Palin and not Clinton or Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden on hand…

“It’s an absolute shame that this has happened,” Hikind said. “To threaten organizations … to threaten the Conference of Presidents that if you don’t withdraw the invitation to Gov. Palin we’re going to look into your tax exempt status … that’s McCarthyism.”…

“I’m absolutely appalled at the behavior of the Democrats,” said Bob Kunst of Defenders.net. “I’m a Democrat and for the first time in my life I’m going to vote Republican. I can’t take it anymore.”

NBC wrote about the tax-exemption issue two days ago but they made it sound like something the organizers had taken up of their own accord. Quote from an unnamed official involved: “The IRS is very clear, Hillary Clinton does not equal Sarah Palin… You have to have equal representation of candidates.” You do? Here’s the speaker list from last year’s anti-Iran rally at the UN. Scott Garrett is a Republican congressman; as far as I know, every other pol on the list is a Democrat. As for the Obama camp’s role in this, John Batchelor, who’s pals with rally organizer Malcolm Hoenlein, hints here that they weren’t directly involved in the nastiness because, as usual, they had surrogates willing to do their dirty work for them. Fine. As I say: Let’s find out which Democratic lawyers, precisely, arrived at the very novel legal conclusion that inviting both parties to a rally to which only one party RSVPs amounts to politicking in breach of one’s tax exemption. And then let’s ask St. Barack why he couldn’t find one person on his side — apart from the guy who called Palin a Nazi sympathizer a few weeks ago, of course — willing to speak at this rally to “balance” the ticket.